Despite his eyelids weighing as much as the Strahl, he gets them open at last. His hazy vision is rewarded with Aerith's smiling face, hair glowing in the morning light, and he almost thinks this is a dream, except she's bullying him.

His expression softens to adoration, the night before finally surfacing in his memory. As she kisses his cheek, his shoulder, he flushes happily, tugging her back into his side and nestling his head down against hers.

"I'm still not expecting you," he murmurs back. This all feels too good to be true. He'd stopped thinking he could be this happy.